Deputy shoots, kills Riverview suspect

RIVERVIEW - A Christmas Eve domestic dispute ended with one man fatally shot by a Hillsborough County deputy.

According to investigators, deputies received a call about a man and woman arguing at the Publix at U.S. 301 and Big Bend Road. Cpl. Mark Clark was dispatched to the scene, but the woman told him everything was fine.

Clark was still suspicious, and continued to follow the car from a distance after the pair drove off together. Before long, the car pulled over and the couple continued fighting.

At that point, Cpl. Clark pulled up and coaxed the man out of the car. Things seemed to be calming down, deputies said, until the man grabbed gun.

The man and woman began struggling over the gun, then the deputy tried to grab it away from the man after he was unable to Taser him.

"He kicked the Taser out of his hand, they continued to have a physical altercation on the passenger side of the car over the firearm. The deputy fired at least one time, striking the suspect, who is deceased at the scene," explained Sheriff David Gee.

The exact relationship between the man and the woman was not immediately clear; deputies declined to publicly identify them.

Three children in the car -- ages 12, 6, and 2 -- witnessed the shooting, deputies said.

The state attorney's office is investigating.